Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

[aart]

Its 2'x4'x17" h

Perfect width for the pad!...if you got the large one.

 

[duluthralphie]

Place the thermometer directly against the pad and take a reading. That's where your chicks will be, with their backs against the heating pad. The HP is not a radiant heater like a heat lamp, it's a contact heater so the chicks must come in contact with the HP surface to gain adequate warmth from it.

I shall try that. Does it get too hot, so they burn when they come in contact? or do they just walk away?

 

[Blooie]

Mine averaged 82.5 underneath and the chicks were just fine. I don't worry about what a thermometer says - I watch the chicks.

 

[duluthralphie]

Mine averaged 82.5 underneath and the chicks were just fine. I don't worry about what a thermometer says - I watch the chicks.

I am fine then, mine was at around 84 under it on the granite countertop!

Now, how do I get my DW to stop looking at me with either a look of content for buying the chicks a new heating pad as she has her 20 year old one to use.. The age of hers was mentioned to me as soon as the UPS guy delivered it and I opened it........ and right after she said " what did you buy that for, we have one?"...


I should have lied.

 

[eagrbeavr]

Perfect width for the pad!...if you got the large one.

Pretty sure I got a smaller one. It was only like 13 bucks. 3 settings. Runs continuously. I figure its not any smaller than a hens belly and they can hatch many more, so. It should work pretty well

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Quick go buy her a new one.... Just sayiin....

 

[eagrbeavr]

wonder if a ticking watch in the pad somewhere would sound comforting to them.

 

[Beekissed]

I shall try that. Does it get too hot, so they burn when they come in contact? or do they just walk away?

Naw...the bottom of a hen is around 100*, so it won't "burn" them, but if they spend more time outside the heating pad or on top of it than underneath it, you can turn it down. The HP is designed to be used in direct contact with human skin, so it will never burn anything but can be uncomfortably warm if turned too high or used for too long, which is why most HPs have a 2 hr automatic shutoff.

I tested my HP when I first got it so as to see if it would be too hot to incubate eggs and it never got much over 100-101 when in direct contact with the thermometer, so no worries about it being too hot for chicks unless you are also brooding them in a very warm home, then the whole setup can become too warm for them to go underneath a HP. Just watch your chicks and you'll know what to do.

 

[aart]

Does it get too hot, so they burn when they come in contact? or do they just walk away?

The first pad I used, an old one with a removable cover....measured 120F on plastic surface of pad itself(without cover).
I swear I heard little chickie screams when they ran over it...no actual harm done to chickie feet tho, I covered it with a towel.

 

[Blooie]

wonder if a ticking watch in the pad somewhere would sound comforting to them.

Nah, not necessary at all. They won't hear ticking when they are moved out to the coop, or in the coop if you start them out there, so they just don't need it. Why make a simple system harder than it has to be? These are, after all, chickens. Yep, folks love them and want to coddle them a bit, but having raised a flock of Divas and then comparing them to the ones I raised to be chickens, I can tell you the second (and third, and 4th) batches of chicks were more confident, curious, and stronger than the ones I overprotected. And with nothing more to worry about than getting them set up outside, making sure they had food and water, and protection from predators I was more confident and relaxed too.

I know the tendency is to want to complicate the entire system, and I can see by some of the recent posts that there is some confusion out there. I also understand that there is a lot of stuff covered in this thread and not everyone has time to start at the beginning and read it all the way through. So might I suggest that for those of you who are trying to figure out how this works, why it works, and how to set it up, head over to the first 4 or 5 pages of the thread and just focus there for a few minutes. There are a lot of ways to change the system to work better for individual situations, but as far as I've seen the simplest setup is still the most practical....a frame, a heating pad, and a place to brood them. Simple. I do use a towel, and for inside brooding I cover that towel with Press 'n Seal but for chicks outside I put nothing over it but a plain, uncovered towel and straw. That's it. When the chicks are inside (which is rare now) the covered towel makes it easy to just wipe off. Trying to do that outside is an exercise in futility, as I learned the hard way, so I use towels out of a stack of Goodwill towels that are too threadbare to use for anything else but cleaning jobs and raising chicks.

That said, I will be incorporating some changes in my setup based on a couple of very practical ideas shared here. I will be putting the heating pad on the INSIDE of the frame rather than draping it over the top. @Beekissed does it this way and it makes sense to avoid the possibility of chicks getting trapped. I was going to put the entire assembly inside a pillowcase as she does, but I have this whole big stack of about 30 towels that I can put to good use, so I'm going to stitch down two sides of the folded towel and use that "towel case" instead of a pillowcase. Same concept, just a different material. I have them on hand, whereas I don't have any spare pillowcases, so rather than spend money I don't need to spend I'll use what I already bought. Plus I've put the word out to friends and family not to toss those worn out towels but give them to me instead. I'll be using @azygous 's portal system in my outside pen. Won't take that long to cut openings in the brooder pen and fit little doors in, and it will make integration with the flock even easier than simply wiring the end of the pen to a chick sized opening and hoping it stays that way.

But the basic idea is the same....I'll use the same frame I used for the last batches of chicks because it's still in perfect shape. I'll use the same heating pad, the same brooder pen, the same waterer and the same feeder. All of those things worked perfectly for me in the past, and if it ain't broke.........